NORTHAMPTON — Supporters of a sit-in at U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern’s office showed up from across the area Friday morning for what turned out to be a farewell to the action protesting U.S. military aid to Israel.

“We’re ending the occupation today,” said Nick Mottern, a member of the Leahy Fast for Palestine Committee. “We feel we’ve met a dead end.”

Through three days of conversations, the six members of the occupation urged McGovern to call on President Biden to halt weapons shipments to Israel for use in its war on Gaza.

They added a second demand, to oppose U.S. vetoes of U.N. cease-fire resolutions, and McGovern pledged to do what he can on that front, group member Paki Wieland said.

But, group member Teresa Turner said, McGovern has also said he cannot make an unconditional call for an end to U.S. arms shipments.

The activists say the U.S. is violating its own laws, citing the Leahy law, named for former Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, which bars the supply of weapons to governments that have committed gross human rights violations.

“We do not want to be complicit in that killing,” Turner said.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza began in response to an Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 Israelis. So far, it has killed over 31,000 Palestinians and driven most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people from their homes. A quarter of Gaza’s population is starving, according to the United Nations, and Israel has been accused of severely limiting humanitarian aid to the territory.

“We’ve all seen the horrendous slaughter, the disregard for humanity,” Mottern said.

The Leahy Fast members, who have fasted from dawn to dusk since Dec. 14, met with McGovern Dec. 19, but have seen no change in his public statements since then, Mottern said.

“We felt we had to get the engine running again,” he said.

Speaking at Mottern’s invitation, Molly Aronson, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace, thanked the “brave occupiers” and said that as a Jewish person, Israeli government policy does not keep her safe.

The grassroots peace group has held 75 protests across the area since the start of the conflict, she said, calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and an end to U.S. military funding for Israel.

Leahy Fast co-founder the Rev. Peter Kakos, former minister at Northampton’s Edwards Church, asked supporters to remember the martyrs, including Rachel Corrie, who was crushed by an Israeli armored bulldozer while defending a house from destruction in Rafah on March 16, 2003; and Aaron Bushnell, a 25-year-old U.S. serviceman who set himself on fire on Feb,. 25 outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington.

Kakos also called on legendary Northampton activist Frances Crowe on what would have been her 105th birthday, saying she was with them in spirit.

“Our conscience would not let us rest until we do all we can to initiate a cease-fire,” he said.

Noting that Leahy Fast members had conducted three demonstrations outside the offices of Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy in Springfield, Worcester and Boston and received not a word in response, Kakos urged supporters to pressure their own congressional representatives.

Fergus Marshall of Chicopee said he planned to present the group’s demands to his congressman, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal.

“Keep showing up,” Mottern told supporters in farewell.